1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for packaging selected items and in more particular to an apparatus and method for automatically wrapping silverware in a napkin.
2. Description of Related Art
Restaurants and other food service establishments frequently provide silverware to diners in a bundled form, wherein the utensils are bundled together within a napkin. This provides an easy way for the servers to handle the silverware without contacting the actual utensils and thereby helps to ensure the sterility and cleanliness of the utensils. The bundles are usually assembled manually by restaurant employees and may be sealed with a paper band or tape. In larger restaurants and food service establishments, the restaurant employee must often spend significant amounts of time engaged in folding napkins, significantly increasing the cost of operation of the restaurant. A number of automatic utensil packaging devices have been developed in the past in an attempt to reduce the cost associated with packaging utensils at restaurants.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,688 to Dunbar et al. discloses an apparatus and method for wrapping silverware in a napkin. The napkin dispenser disclosed in the ""688 patent automatically loads at least one napkin into a receiving area and an utensil dispenser automatically delivers utensils to the receiving area on top of the napkin. The napkin is automatically folded over the utensils rod at which point the utensils and surrounding napkin are then rotated by one or more rollers upon which they rest, causing the folded napkin to be wrapped longitudinally around the utensil. The napkin bundles produced by the device of the ""688 patent apparently have open ends, potentially allowing contamination of the utensils during subsequent handling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,112 to Engelhardt et al. discloses a robotic food service packaging system which utilizes a robotically controlled pincer for picking up utensils and placing a utensil within a bagger. This patent discloses positioning the utensil in a bin such that a portion of the utensil is exposed for being retrieved by a pincer. Once retrieved, the pincer is moved to place the utensil within a bag. However, placing utensils within bags is clearly not a desirable method for packaging utensils for higher class restaurants.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,801 to Hillam et al. also discloses an automated utensil packaging system. This patent discloses an automated system wherein a cluster of utensils are deposited on a continuous closed loop conveyer. A spreading chute and different travel rates along different portions of the conveyor separates the clustered items. Utensil pick-up systems include dedicated vision imaging and recognition systems for identifying the type of utensil to be picked up and the location for where the item is to be placed. The utensils are then deposited in a bucket. A napkin is also retrieved and placed within the bucket so that a complete set of utensils and napkins are associated with each respective bucket. Once a complete set has been picked, the bucket is dumped into a bagging machine which heat seals the entire set. Again, placing utensils within bags is clearly not a desirable method for packaging utensils for higher class restaurants.
Thus, none of these prior devices is ideal for the preparation of sterile napkin bundles containing utensils for use in all restaurants. During the sorting and bundling process, each of these processes generally requires that the silverware be handled by an individual, which can decrease the sterility of the utensils. Furthermore, each of these prior methods fails to completely enclose the utensil within a napkin to provide a complete barrier to contamination of the utensil. Thus, even with the most stringent sterility precautions in place, employee carelessness or inattention can still lead to contamination of the silverware with undesirable substances or microorganisms. Therefore, there is a need for a method of producing sterile bundles of silverware that does not require extensive handling of the silverware by employees after the silverware has been washed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for quickly and inexpensively preparing bundles of silverware wrapped in napkins.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for preparing bundles of silverware wrapped in napkins which does not require handling of the silverware following sterilization.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for wrapping utensils in a napkin which is capable of completely enclosing the utensils within the napkin to ensure sterility.
The above objectives are accomplished according to the present invention by providing an apparatus for wrapping a napkin around one or more utensils, wherein the utensils each have first and second ends defining a longitudinal axis. The utensil wrapping apparatus includes a utensil manipulator for placing a utensil adjacent a surface of the napkin. First and second utensil engaging devices are provided for releasably engaging the first and second ends of the utensil and the portions of said napkin respectively adjacent the first and second ends of said utensil, such that said napkin and said utensil are held in a fixed relative position. A napkin guide wraps the napkin around the utensil by orbiting around the longitudinal axis of the utensil such that the napkin guide contacts the napkin and thereby wraps the napkin around the utensil.